Harvey Weinstein, Al Franken, Louie C.K., Matt Lauer, Donald Trump. . .
We, women, have been too quiet for too long, laughing when we should have been shouting. We dismissed inappropriate behavior and in doing so, we inadvertently allowed it. Now we see how important it is to confront bad behavior.
And the only way to make change is to speak up.
I’ve done it before, and I’m doing it again now.
Because it’s important.
In 1985, a man I cared about forced me to have sex.
It was not consensual.
“He wouldn’t stop when I asked him to stop,” I told my friends.
But no one knew what to say.
My own mother told me I’d “asked” for it.
Here’s what I needed to hear: That is terrible! It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. He was only thinking of himself. You’re not alone. You’re going to be okay. What do you need? How can I help you?
The entire trajectory of my life was altered by that single event.
I wish I could say that that night was the only incidence in which I was encouraged to dismiss inappropriate behavior of the men around me.
But it was not.
We live in a culture that has allowed men to behave badly.
We have tolerated discrimination, assault, rape.
We are seeing it now, how our silence has protected our perpetrators.
Being “nice” has not served us well.
Yesterday, a friend suggested I create a piece of art that says “ME TOO” on it. Inspired, I shared the idea with another friend and together we collaborated to create this image.
Because we’re all in this together.
There’s one helluva planetary correction happening, people.
Change is coming.
Keep sharing your stories.
People are finally listening.
If you’d like to pre-order a 12×18 print for $10 + S&H, leave a comment or message me at rasjacobson.ny@gmail.com.
If you relate to this post, please type ME TOO in the comments.